Stocks Bounce on Fed Minutes

The markets fluctuated in a fairly tight range after the minutes from the Fed's last meeting showed the central bank is actively considering new monetary policy actions.

Today's Markets

As of 2:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 58.4 points, or 0.44%, to 13145, the S&P 500 fell 3.8 points, or 0.27%, to 1409 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.6 points, or 0.12%, to 3064.

Members of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee pared back their expectations for short-term U.S. economic growth as a result of tepid consumer spending and employment growth, Federal Open Market Committee minutes revealed.

The FOMC warned that a potential intensification of the European debt crisis and the looming fiscal cliff also present ‘significant downside risks’ to the outlook. As such, the FOMC considered new policy options, including a large-scale asset purchase program and the extension of the Fed’s low-rate pledge to jump-start the economy.

Sales of existing, single-family homes rose 2.3% in July from the month before to an annualized rate of 4.47 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That came in short of the 4.52 million analysts expected.

In Asia, Japan's trade deficit came in at roughly $6.5 billion in July, which was higher than economists expected. The shortfall came as exports tumbled 8.1% -- more than twice the decline that was forecast.

BHP Billiton (BHP), one of the world's biggest miners, also saw its profits drop sharply during the second half of the year from the same period in 2011, which hurt the mining sector in European markets.

Also on the European front, Euro Group President Jean-Claude Juncker met with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to discuss a potential extension of the date at which the country completes its fiscal adjustment program. The program is designed to reduce the country's budget deficit, but it comes at the price of extreme austerity measures that have weighed heavily on its economy. In a press conference, the two indicated that discussions are still ongoing.

Oil futures were slightly lower. The benchmark contract traded in New York fell 17 cents, or 0.18%, to $96.66 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline dipped 0.05% to $3.064 a gallon.

In metals, gold ticked lower by 40 cents, or 0.02%, to $1,643 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 1.5% to 2453, the English FTSE 100 sold off by 1.4% to 5774 and the German DAX slumped 1% to 7018.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 slipped 0.27% to 9132 and the Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 0.78% to 19888.